Does Braiding Help Hair Grow Faster?

Braiding is one of hairstyle trends, particularly among Africa-American women. It is one of ideas to make you become great in look. The interesting comes when some women with braids or weaves feel that their hairs grow faster than usual. Does this hairstyle actually affect the growth of hair? Or is it only a subjective perception and a myth?

Three major layers of your hair shaft

Hair shaft is a term used to call hair that you can see. It consists of 3 different layers; cuticule (cuticle), medulla, and cortex [1]:

We can say that it is the outermost layer of hair shaft. It is transparent and also has function to provide a protection for the inner layers. Moreover, it plays a key role in the pigment of hair.

It is located between cuticle and medulla. It makes up the majority of shaft. In other words it is the thickest layer and also plays a key role in the strength of hair.

It is the most inner layer, and located after cortex. This layer composed of large cells.

Will braiding help hair grow faster than usual?

Medically, there is no correlation between the growth of hair and hairstyle such as braids or weaves. However, some women say that their hair may grow faster with braid hairstyle – is it a fact or only a myth?

Actually, the keratin plays a key role in regulating how fast your hair grows. This protein is made in the hair follicle. In other words, your diet can have a significant contribution since most of your hair is composed from protein.

Hair that you can see is derived from dead keratin cells. As follicle makes new cells of keratin, old cells of keratin are being pushed out from the surface of the scalp /skin which then can make the hair shaft grow for about six inches per year on average [2].

The rate of hair growth can vary from person to person. Even in one individual, the hair can arise at different rates at various sites on the scalp of the head. In fact, each follicle can act independently and has its own life cycle.

While the positions of follicle on the scalp may have an effect on the rate of how fast it grows, some areas are also vulnerable to make the follicle easier to fall out. Unfortunately, these issues are still not fully understood [3].

Furthermore, sometime lifestyle factors can have an effect on how healthy your hair grows. How about with braiding?

Well, braiding can make you great in look, but not for the health of your follicles in long term. It also doesn’t directly affect the rate of hair growth.

If it does make growth run faster than what you think, this may be a subjective feeling or the effect of excessive tension from braiding may be the answer. What else you should know? Keep reading!